Until now, there has hardly been any research done among sexual offenders who have a migration background (MB) or who do not descend from a European-American background. Thus, little is known about potential differences between offenders with a MB and offenders without a MB in terms of offence type, demographic factors, special characteristics of crime scene behavior, and behavioral themes. Furthermore, it remains unclear whether the actuarial risk assessment tools are valid for offenders with a MB. To address these issues, 950 sexual offenders in Germany were examined via a cross-cultural approach. We found sexual offenders from the Near East and North Africa to be younger, with less previous sexual offences, and being less often convicted for child molestation compared to offenders without a MB. With respect to characteristics of crime scene behavior, sexual offences among offenders from the Near East and North Africa were less driven by deviant sexual interests, and instead were more related to opportunity, group dynamics, and an antisocial action readiness when compared to offenders without a MB. This difference was also found when more homogeneous groups concerning the offence type were analyzed and the comparison of various behavioral themes showed similar results. The prediction of future sex offences among offenders with a MB from the Near East and North Africa was not possible with the widely used Static-99R; however, the crime scene behavior risk (CBR) score proved to be a valid instrument for all subgroups of offenders. Consequently, we strongly recommend to use crime scene behavior assessment procedures, especially for offenders with a MB. © 2017, Springer-Verlag GmbH Deutschland.

Behavioral themes Sexual offenders Risk assessment Migration background Crime scene behavior

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